• Dawa Sherpa, a Nepali climbing guide, was missing on Everest for six days before being found alive.
• Despite icy conditions and lack of food or oxygen, he managed to crawl down from extreme altitude.
• His family had begun funeral rituals before receiving news of his survival.

Dawa Sherpa, a 52-year-old Nepali mountain guide known as "Hillary," was found alive after going missing for six days on Mount Everest. Search teams located him crawling down towards Base Camp early on June 4, 2026, in what has been described as a miraculous self-rescue. He had vanished on May 29 while descending from the mountain after a summit attempt, with conditions at high altitudes severely challenging, including critically low levels of oxygen, reports SCMP and BBC.

Dawa was last seen sitting on his backpack during a rest break while descending from around Camp Four. At that point, his client, a Polish climber, continued down, but Dawa remained behind. As Dawa began his descent, he encountered difficult weather conditions that ultimately stranded him, according to India Times and Reuters.

Throughout his ordeal, Dawa managed to crawl over 12 kilometers down to the base camp from the Yellow Band, surviving on little more than scraps from abandoned tents and melted ice, a feat described as "nothing short of a miracle" by Pemba Sherpa, executive director of 8K Expeditions, who coordinated the search, as noted by Channel News Asia and CBS News.

His family had nearly lost hope and began last rites prayers for Dawa when news of his discovery reached them. His daughter mentioned how they initially struggled to believe he was really alive until they received photographic confirmation, highlighting the emotional rollercoaster they experienced, as reported by Al Jazeera and India Times.

Dawa was located by a cleaning crew employed by the Sagarmatha Pollution Control Committee, who were in the area clearing climbing routes after the season. He was promptly evacuated to Kathmandu, where he is currently recovering from frostbite and other injuries but is reportedly in good spirits, according to various reports including BBC and SCMP.